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There are multiple overlapping problems. One of them is the issue of definitions.
Not all masks are equal and not all masks are ideal for different situations. The N95 grade masks are the "best" common masks, but in day to day use in the wild, odds are the untrained user will touch something and touch their face, or wear them incorrectly, rendering them pointless. They're best for trained users in high-risk environments where they will do the most good. For low-intensity exposure cloth masks are good enough, but in turn some people have been saying they're useless because simply they're not *gauranteed* to protect you, when they mean just not as much as an N95.
The issue of technicalities is another. The virus isn't "technically" airborne. Technically the masks don't stop the virus itself. The filters are orders of magnitude too crude to stop something the size of even a large virus. And unfortunatly a lot of people in positions to broadcast their opinions seem to take the "being technically right is the best kind of right" approach. So despite the fact that masks can stop some of the airborne particles/droplets that carry the virus, they can justifiably say the masks do not help stop the virus.
Another issue is nationalism. In an effort to remain ideologically unchallenged, our governments first response is to automatically disregard any advice that comes from organisations outside the UK. After all, you can't be proven wrong if you never listen to the evidence. And unfortunatly most of the advice is coming from international health organisations. Compounding that, some news is also being willfully mistranslated or misrepresented to fuel racist narratives. Did you know a Chinese "wet market" just means non-dried goods? As in fresh goods. It means a farmers market, just like the one we have in the station carpark or Walthamstow High St. But it's presented as though it means a filthy amateur slaughterhouse.
Classist ideology has also raised it's head in the apparent beleif by many in government that sickness itself is an affliction of the weak, the lazy. It is something that happens to leaches on society. And as Britain is ideologically strong by definition, being sufficiently patriotic marks you as someone who the sickness will not affect. "A gentlemans hands are always clean", for those who know the reference, seems blindingly appropriate.
And as well, it would cost money to fund a public good. Another ideological issue the present government are strongly against. And it plays into the above, because to them it will only benefit the weak. It will never be repaid. It is throwing money away. The lack of action seems an example of manifest destiny; Those who survive it will retroactively have been proven strong enough to survive and worthy of the help they no longer need, while those that don't will have been proven retroactively weak, and who the money would have been wasted on anyway.
So yeah, the masks aren't perfect but something is still better than nothing, so save the best ones for the professionals in high-risk environments. All any of this is to improve our odds. There are no gaurantees.
And complain if you see anyone in a public-facing job without some form of PPE (personal protective equipment), because if they go down so does our entire supply chain.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSXIetP5iak
Not all masks are equal and not all masks are ideal for different situations. The N95 grade masks are the "best" common masks, but in day to day use in the wild, odds are the untrained user will touch something and touch their face, or wear them incorrectly, rendering them pointless. They're best for trained users in high-risk environments where they will do the most good. For low-intensity exposure cloth masks are good enough, but in turn some people have been saying they're useless because simply they're not *gauranteed* to protect you, when they mean just not as much as an N95.
The issue of technicalities is another. The virus isn't "technically" airborne. Technically the masks don't stop the virus itself. The filters are orders of magnitude too crude to stop something the size of even a large virus. And unfortunatly a lot of people in positions to broadcast their opinions seem to take the "being technically right is the best kind of right" approach. So despite the fact that masks can stop some of the airborne particles/droplets that carry the virus, they can justifiably say the masks do not help stop the virus.
Another issue is nationalism. In an effort to remain ideologically unchallenged, our governments first response is to automatically disregard any advice that comes from organisations outside the UK. After all, you can't be proven wrong if you never listen to the evidence. And unfortunatly most of the advice is coming from international health organisations. Compounding that, some news is also being willfully mistranslated or misrepresented to fuel racist narratives. Did you know a Chinese "wet market" just means non-dried goods? As in fresh goods. It means a farmers market, just like the one we have in the station carpark or Walthamstow High St. But it's presented as though it means a filthy amateur slaughterhouse.
Classist ideology has also raised it's head in the apparent beleif by many in government that sickness itself is an affliction of the weak, the lazy. It is something that happens to leaches on society. And as Britain is ideologically strong by definition, being sufficiently patriotic marks you as someone who the sickness will not affect. "A gentlemans hands are always clean", for those who know the reference, seems blindingly appropriate.
And as well, it would cost money to fund a public good. Another ideological issue the present government are strongly against. And it plays into the above, because to them it will only benefit the weak. It will never be repaid. It is throwing money away. The lack of action seems an example of manifest destiny; Those who survive it will retroactively have been proven strong enough to survive and worthy of the help they no longer need, while those that don't will have been proven retroactively weak, and who the money would have been wasted on anyway.
So yeah, the masks aren't perfect but something is still better than nothing, so save the best ones for the professionals in high-risk environments. All any of this is to improve our odds. There are no gaurantees.
And complain if you see anyone in a public-facing job without some form of PPE (personal protective equipment), because if they go down so does our entire supply chain.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSXIetP5iak
